måndag 25 februari 2013

On occasion I get a couple of minutes by the loom to make something for myself. Right now I've started weaving an Alice Lund classic - a rosepath carpet called "Hästtäcket", in blue and gray. Slowly but surely it is growing in the loom...

torsdag 21 februari 2013

Congratulations to textile artist Annika Ekdahl who has won the most prestigious textile award in the Nordic countries, the Nordic Textile Awards! Yesterday I was in Uppsala and got a pleasant surprise when I saw one of Annika's great tapestries hanging on one of the walls at the university. And later that evening I got the news of her winning the awards. A good day for monumental textile art at it's best! I hope she will continue making great tapestries for years to come.

tisdag 19 februari 2013

Late last year one of Sweden's most prominent textile artists passed away, 92 years old. Kaisa Melanton is one of my personal favorite textile artists. She had a large exhibition at Waldemarsudde in 2007. That exhibition is truly one of the reasons why I decided to fully dedicate my time and heart to textile art and handweaving. The combination of her wonderful art in relation to the beautiful surroundings at Waldemarsudde made a real impression on me. It made me realized just what potential textile art has as a form of expression. From her monumental triptych "Liten Tuva" to her delicate embroidery "Sällsam Samvaro" - the range of her artistry extends far.

I can't help but to wonder who will shoulder Kaisa Melaton's legacy (as well as all of the other great textile artists of the 20th century) and keep on pushing the boundaries of hand weaving and textile art. As it appears now the position is open for a few more. But thank god we still have great textile artist such as Helena Hernmarck and Annika Ekdahl to lead the way.

In conjunction with the exhibition a book about Kaisa Melaton was released which I think is still available to buy online. And I also found a short film from Designarkiv.se with an interview with Kaisa Melanton which you can see here.

fredag 15 februari 2013

Before Christmas I had a wonderful visit to Riksbanken, Swedens National bank. Besides safeguarding the Swedish economy Riksbanken also has an amazing collection of art as well as a beautiful building in which a lot of it hangs. The building was made in the 1970s, by architect Peter Celsing, and a lot of the art was commissioned at the same time which gives the whole environment a very cohesive impression. And what's even greater, they have a lot of textile art by some of Sweden's top artists!

Already in the entrance you're greeted with textile art. In the waiting hall for guests hangs a tapestry by Olle Nyman, made at Alice Lund Textilier. The piece is called "Sifferträdet" (the Tree of Numbers).

Here is a really unique piece by Max Walter Svanberg, his imagery is so special - like in a dreamland. The detail of the tapestry is out of this world. It's called "Den Svarta Solens Älskling" (the Black Sun's Darling)

Even it the session hall where a lot of the important decisions of Sweden's economy are made two monumental tapestries by Karl Axel Pehrson called "Abudantia I & II" hangs. (Abundatia is the Roman god of abundance.) The two tapestries are supposed to represent micro and macro cosmos as well as micro and macro economy.

It makes me happy that there is so much art in such an institution and that the whole working environment is so well thought through. I really believe that we are influenced by our surroundings. So somehow it makes me more confident that the people working there will make good decisions since there is so much great textile art to brighten their day.

måndag 4 februari 2013

An early sign of spring in Stockholm is the annual "Vårsalongen" at Liljevalchs ("The Spring Salon"). Every year thousands of people send in their works of art to Liljevalchs in hope of being selected for the exhibition. (Here is what I wrote about last year's exhibition.) If you do not have the possibility to visit the exhibition it has a great website with a lot of information and pictures of the participants. This year my attention got caught by a couple of artists.

It was a pleasant surprise to see some tapestries at the exhibition. This is Anna Olsson with her work, the one on the right is called "Vi har tre fina barn och så har vi han" ("We have three beautiful kids and then we have him"). She also has a website with some of her tapestries which also depicts the background to her work.

And also Britta Johanson who does a lot of cross stitch embroidery. She is inspired by old patterns which she uses in her work as well as compiling to books so others can enjoy them as well. More about her on her website.

Simon Dahlgren Strååt, another artist in the exhibition, is actually someone I know so it was especially interesting to see his work hanging on the wall. This piece is called "Konfrontationen" ("Confrontation").